As a relative newbie, Iíve found a ton of great suggestions for items that make RVing easier, safer, cheaper or just plain fun. Some are simple and fairly cheap, like that sink cutting board or refrigerator bars. So, for all of us newbies, what is the best $100 (give or take) youíve spent on your trailer and/or TV? Iíll offer mine: My Hopkins Smart Hitch backup camera. A life, time, and marriage saver!

Progressive Industries SSP 30-X surge protector (~$85 they make much more expensive units but this is the entry level model). I had lightning strike a tree behind our house last week while the trailer was plugged in to the 30a outlet on our garage. I had one fried and destroyed surge protector but absolutely no damage to anything in the trailer. I purchased another the next day. Money well spent in my opinion.

Simple as it sounds...good pine blocks for support & stabilizer points instead of a bunch of smaller boards or whatever else folks carry. $20 from a local saw mill. Plus they get lighter as they dry out! Picture below.

Best advice for saving money regarding a camper is Costco. One of the benefits they offer is pre-negotiated prices on vehicles - including campers. We've used the Costco program to purchase 3 vehicles and our 5th wheel. Regarding our 5'r, the MSRP was upwards of $62K. Our negotiated price was $45K - a 25%+ savings! If you've got good credit, you may be able to leverage RV financing for under 5%.

Unfortunately, buying an RV is like buying a home. You've got regular payments for 10-15 years (whatever you negotiate) and the RV depreciates fast. Knowing that, I would buy an RV with better resale in case you sell it later. The upside is you can write some of it off in taxes (like a second home) but I believe it must have a bedroom/bathroom/kitchen to qualify for the IRS.

On the "cheap" side of things, buying a box of latex gloves was the biggest payoff. I wear them when working with the black tank/hoses/electrical because it keeps crud off your hands.

$4.99 for a pair of stick on levels. Level the trailer once with a carpenters level on the frig, stick these on the front of the trailer (driver's side) and no need to ever go into the trailer to check if it's level.